Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Devotional by Mary Manners: Joy-filled Traditions
Join me in welcoming our dear friend Mary Manners to the blog today! She's here to share her thoughts on family-based traditions that bring her joy. I hope that this devotional will bring joy to you! I know that it brought a smile to my face.
If you talk to God, please remember Mary and her family in your prayers.
God bless you!
If you talk to God, please remember Mary and her family in your prayers.
God bless you!
~*~
Joy-filled Traditions
A devotional written by Mary Manners
Traditions are the vines that connect family memories and lives. The older I get, the more I reflect on the traditions of my childhood, joyfully instilled with the love of my parents. I’m not talking so much about the big events but more about those little things that lay nestled in my heart like bountiful spoonfuls of warm chicken noodle soup.
For example, on each of my birthdays Mom always spent the better part of the morning elbow-deep in sifted flour and eggs as she lovingly prepared a double-chocolate cake layered with vanilla pudding and chocolate chips, drizzled in dark fudge frosting—a virtual and delectable chocolate overload. And Dad, well…at the heart of every summer this hard-working veteran’s ode to the Fourth of July consisted of a walk in the town parade followed by a backyard barbecue. As dusk fell, Dad carefully staked a flare in the lawn of our tiny front yard. Its light shimmered in a waterfall of colorful sparkles that elicited a delighted round of squeals coupled with a flurry of applause from my siblings and me. To a bunch of kids, the resulting fanfare from this single flare was more alluring than the grand finale on the town square.
Warm spring nights were filled with anticipation as I sat on the front steps with a scuffed and tattered baseball clutched in my hands while I waited for Dad to come home from a long day of work. It was his tradition to toss a few pitches to me before heading into the house to greet Mom and then wash up for dinner. Sometimes we got caught up in the moment and those few pitches stretched blissfully past twilight—and the dinner hour. In contrast, on snowy Chicago winter days Dad made it a tradition to help me run my paper route with his beat-up Chevy station wagon. He’d navigate through snow trenches while I bundled the papers and tossed them onto flake-dusted front porches. It was during those excursions that I soaked in Dad’s most valuable kernels of wisdom—words that have remained with me over the decades since I first heard them, “If you’re going to do a job, do it right.”
I’ve carried on some of the traditions of my childhood with my daughter and sons. For example, when Danni turned seven I purchased her first two-wheel bike and spent the afternoon pounding the pavement of our cul-de-sac as I taught her to ride in the same manner my parents employed for each of my siblings and me on our seventh birthdays. Her brothers soon followed. I also prepared sack lunches for school every day, same as my mom did each and every morning for thirteen years. Boloney and cheese with a side of raw veggies remains a favorite at our house, and sometimes I even managed to tuck witty inspirational quotes, scrawled on plain white paper napkins, inside before I closed each bag.
My husband and I have also begun a few of our own family traditions. We love leaving little notes for each other and for our children—taped to the car’s steering wheel, tucked beneath a bed pillow, at a place-setting on the dinner table, slipped with care into a pocket or shoe. The favorite Danni and I share is notes scrawled on a sheet torn from a sticky pad and slapped onto the bathroom mirror. When she started to drive, I began to leave messages for her each morning before I left for work and while she still lay soundly in her bed. “Have a great day. I love you. Be safe.” As the number of messages mounted, she framed the mirror with them. Then one day, as the time for her leave for college approached, I noticed the notes had disappeared. I thought she’d thrown them away while packing, but later wept when I found she’d tucked each one carefully into a shoebox that she carried away with her to campus. Now the messages frame a bulletin board in her dorm room and I pray they remind her daily of the importance…and fun…of traditions.
Traditions…they remain one of the ties that bind my family together and will surely also prove to be a legacy as my children, and now grandchildren as well, carry on many of the nuggets of day-to-day nuances that have over the years blossomed to be special—and cherished—memories.
Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband Tim and the cherished cats they've rescued from local animal shelters...Lucky and Gus.
She loves swimming, running, flavored coffee and Smoky Mountain sunsets.
Mary believes everyone has a story to tell, and she loves to share hers. She writes inspirational romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.
Joy-filled Traditions
A devotional written by Mary Manners
“How wonderful it must be to speak the language of the angels, with no words for hate and a million words for love!”
~ Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994 ~
Traditions are the vines that connect family memories and lives. The older I get, the more I reflect on the traditions of my childhood, joyfully instilled with the love of my parents. I’m not talking so much about the big events but more about those little things that lay nestled in my heart like bountiful spoonfuls of warm chicken noodle soup.
For example, on each of my birthdays Mom always spent the better part of the morning elbow-deep in sifted flour and eggs as she lovingly prepared a double-chocolate cake layered with vanilla pudding and chocolate chips, drizzled in dark fudge frosting—a virtual and delectable chocolate overload. And Dad, well…at the heart of every summer this hard-working veteran’s ode to the Fourth of July consisted of a walk in the town parade followed by a backyard barbecue. As dusk fell, Dad carefully staked a flare in the lawn of our tiny front yard. Its light shimmered in a waterfall of colorful sparkles that elicited a delighted round of squeals coupled with a flurry of applause from my siblings and me. To a bunch of kids, the resulting fanfare from this single flare was more alluring than the grand finale on the town square.
Warm spring nights were filled with anticipation as I sat on the front steps with a scuffed and tattered baseball clutched in my hands while I waited for Dad to come home from a long day of work. It was his tradition to toss a few pitches to me before heading into the house to greet Mom and then wash up for dinner. Sometimes we got caught up in the moment and those few pitches stretched blissfully past twilight—and the dinner hour. In contrast, on snowy Chicago winter days Dad made it a tradition to help me run my paper route with his beat-up Chevy station wagon. He’d navigate through snow trenches while I bundled the papers and tossed them onto flake-dusted front porches. It was during those excursions that I soaked in Dad’s most valuable kernels of wisdom—words that have remained with me over the decades since I first heard them, “If you’re going to do a job, do it right.”
I’ve carried on some of the traditions of my childhood with my daughter and sons. For example, when Danni turned seven I purchased her first two-wheel bike and spent the afternoon pounding the pavement of our cul-de-sac as I taught her to ride in the same manner my parents employed for each of my siblings and me on our seventh birthdays. Her brothers soon followed. I also prepared sack lunches for school every day, same as my mom did each and every morning for thirteen years. Boloney and cheese with a side of raw veggies remains a favorite at our house, and sometimes I even managed to tuck witty inspirational quotes, scrawled on plain white paper napkins, inside before I closed each bag.
My husband and I have also begun a few of our own family traditions. We love leaving little notes for each other and for our children—taped to the car’s steering wheel, tucked beneath a bed pillow, at a place-setting on the dinner table, slipped with care into a pocket or shoe. The favorite Danni and I share is notes scrawled on a sheet torn from a sticky pad and slapped onto the bathroom mirror. When she started to drive, I began to leave messages for her each morning before I left for work and while she still lay soundly in her bed. “Have a great day. I love you. Be safe.” As the number of messages mounted, she framed the mirror with them. Then one day, as the time for her leave for college approached, I noticed the notes had disappeared. I thought she’d thrown them away while packing, but later wept when I found she’d tucked each one carefully into a shoebox that she carried away with her to campus. Now the messages frame a bulletin board in her dorm room and I pray they remind her daily of the importance…and fun…of traditions.
Traditions…they remain one of the ties that bind my family together and will surely also prove to be a legacy as my children, and now grandchildren as well, carry on many of the nuggets of day-to-day nuances that have over the years blossomed to be special—and cherished—memories.
~*~
Author bio:
She loves swimming, running, flavored coffee and Smoky Mountain sunsets.
Mary believes everyone has a story to tell, and she loves to share hers. She writes inspirational romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Happy Easter Sunday! Celebrating this special day with a song and an e-card
Every year, followers of Jesus Christ celebrate the meaning of Easter and remember the reason for our faith—the life of Jesus Christ!
It was through His life on Earth, death and resurrection that all those who believe in Him have a chance to go to heaven. Where would we be without our Savior? Lost and probably nonexistent.
I could talk forever about the beauty of the Christ's sacrifice and The Cross. But I figure that this music video "Mercy Tree" and an e-card from DaySpring would be better and take less time.
God bless you! Enjoy the music and card messages below this text.
An e-card for you:
It was through His life on Earth, death and resurrection that all those who believe in Him have a chance to go to heaven. Where would we be without our Savior? Lost and probably nonexistent.
I could talk forever about the beauty of the Christ's sacrifice and The Cross. But I figure that this music video "Mercy Tree" and an e-card from DaySpring would be better and take less time.
God bless you! Enjoy the music and card messages below this text.
An e-card for you:
Friday, March 25, 2016
Words of Faith: Christine's story on kids and discipline
Leaving Our Kids to God's Discipline
A Words of Faith story by Christine Lindsay
As a Christian mom I knew I was supposed to pray and leave my worries about my children to my Heavenly Father. After all, according to His word, He loves them even more than I do. But back in 2006 I was praying hard for Lana, and feeling pretty desperate that maybe God wasn't hearing my prayers for my daughter.
At the time I'd been struggling with whether or not I trusted God to fix my kid’s life or was there something I could fix. Lana was making all the wrong choices as a young adult at university, and paying for those choices in painful ways that have left physical scars to this day. Everything her dad and I had taught her about obeying the Lord’s will, she did the opposite.
Let’s face it, life can be hard, and when our kids hurt, we hurt.
One day as I was cleaning our den I found a box of old photographs, old degree diplomas, and came across a faded blue airmail letter that I'd received back in 1980. It was a letter from my grandmother upon my engagement.
In that letter she wrote how thankful she was to the Lord that I had found a good partner in life, that her prayers for me were answered, that I was living the joyful things that God had planned for me.
For most of my life my grandmother and I were separated by the Atlantic Ocean. With her still in Ireland and me living in Canada, she didn’t have much opportunity to do things for me, other than pray and write letters. She certainly didn’t have the opportunity to “fix” things for me if I messed up my life which I certainly did until I turned around and started obeying God.
My grandmother died in 1984, but many years later in 2006 as I re-read her letter, and I was the mom of an adult daughter, I felt the Lord’s comfort. Behind my grandmother's writing was the Lord's voice right when I needed it, and His gentle reminder to trust Him with Lana.
I resisted the urge to “fix” everything in Lana’s life. It wasn’t a matter of letting her suffer the consequences and to learn from that. We had to by faith put her into God’s hands, to trust that He would open her eyes. It was hard at first to stand back in faith and let God work. But then we saw the Lord start to work in her life. We saw our prayers for Lana answered. In 2010 the Lord brought her back to Himself, and her faith was all the stronger for it, because it was her own faith in Christ, and not just that of her parents.
As much as we want to, we cannot save the ones we love. Only Christ can do that. Give your loved ones over to God. Trust Him to save them, because ultimately seeing Him save my child reaffirmed in my soul that He had saved me.
Seeing our kids desperate need of God underlined for me that I too desperately need the Lord for everything, my heartbeat, my breath, my salvation. There is not one single thing that we can do to “fix” anything in life. It’s a matter of stepping back and letting God do the saving.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."~Acts 4:12 (NIV)
And even though at the time I was praying so hard for my daughter she was an adult, in my heart she was still my little girl. And Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. ~Matthew 19:14-15 (NIV)
~*~
As a Christian mom I knew I was supposed to pray and leave my worries about my children to my Heavenly Father. After all, according to His word, He loves them even more than I do. But back in 2006 I was praying hard for Lana, and feeling pretty desperate that maybe God wasn't hearing my prayers for my daughter.
At the time I'd been struggling with whether or not I trusted God to fix my kid’s life or was there something I could fix. Lana was making all the wrong choices as a young adult at university, and paying for those choices in painful ways that have left physical scars to this day. Everything her dad and I had taught her about obeying the Lord’s will, she did the opposite.
Let’s face it, life can be hard, and when our kids hurt, we hurt.
One day as I was cleaning our den I found a box of old photographs, old degree diplomas, and came across a faded blue airmail letter that I'd received back in 1980. It was a letter from my grandmother upon my engagement.
In that letter she wrote how thankful she was to the Lord that I had found a good partner in life, that her prayers for me were answered, that I was living the joyful things that God had planned for me.
For most of my life my grandmother and I were separated by the Atlantic Ocean. With her still in Ireland and me living in Canada, she didn’t have much opportunity to do things for me, other than pray and write letters. She certainly didn’t have the opportunity to “fix” things for me if I messed up my life which I certainly did until I turned around and started obeying God.
My grandmother died in 1984, but many years later in 2006 as I re-read her letter, and I was the mom of an adult daughter, I felt the Lord’s comfort. Behind my grandmother's writing was the Lord's voice right when I needed it, and His gentle reminder to trust Him with Lana.
I resisted the urge to “fix” everything in Lana’s life. It wasn’t a matter of letting her suffer the consequences and to learn from that. We had to by faith put her into God’s hands, to trust that He would open her eyes. It was hard at first to stand back in faith and let God work. But then we saw the Lord start to work in her life. We saw our prayers for Lana answered. In 2010 the Lord brought her back to Himself, and her faith was all the stronger for it, because it was her own faith in Christ, and not just that of her parents.
As much as we want to, we cannot save the ones we love. Only Christ can do that. Give your loved ones over to God. Trust Him to save them, because ultimately seeing Him save my child reaffirmed in my soul that He had saved me.
Seeing our kids desperate need of God underlined for me that I too desperately need the Lord for everything, my heartbeat, my breath, my salvation. There is not one single thing that we can do to “fix” anything in life. It’s a matter of stepping back and letting God do the saving.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."~Acts 4:12 (NIV)
And even though at the time I was praying so hard for my daughter she was an adult, in my heart she was still my little girl. And Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. ~Matthew 19:14-15 (NIV)
~*~
Author bio:
Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction. She is currently writing her 8th novel. Aside from being a busy writer and speaker, Christine is the happy wife of David for 35 years, a mom and a grandma.
She makes her home on the west coast of Canada, and in Aug. 2016 she will see her long-awaited non-fiction book released, Finding Sarah, Finding Me: A Birth Mother’s Story.
Please visit Christine’s website www.ChristineLindsay.org or follow her on Amazon or Twitter. Subscribe to her quarterly newsletter, and be her friend on Pinterest, Facebook, and Goodreads.
Please visit Christine’s website www.ChristineLindsay.org or follow her on Amazon or Twitter. Subscribe to her quarterly newsletter, and be her friend on Pinterest, Facebook, and Goodreads.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Book review: Spring Brides
A book of three novellas written by Rachel Hauck, Lenora Worth and Meg Moseley
The book’s back cover blurb starts with an invitation that reads, “Happily after begins today. The honor of your presence is requested at three spring weddings.” I loved the details on the blurb and was honored to receive this lovely invitation. But it was the book’s front cover that made me accept the invitation these three fictional springtime weddings.
The cover photo of Spring Brides is elegant, sweet, soft and simple. I loved the fact that the color theme was purple. I simply adore that color! A woman wearing an elegant, white wedding dress with what looks like a sweetheart neckline with buttons trailing down the middle low back of the dress. She’s hiked up her dress with her left hand to make a clear pathway for her feet. Her right hand is doing double-duty because she’s balancing her clutch of her bouquet of purpose flowers with her grasp on a lilac color umbrella.
The background of this front cover photo is of a grassy area that leads to what looks like a blue-gray river stream. The title of the book along with the authors’ names are written in purple. All of those elements blend perfectly to create a whimsical and wonderful book cover. It also made me want to pick up the book and read it. Yes, I judged this book by its cover and I’m SO glad that I did. Allow me to tell you my reasons why. We’ll spend a little time on each of the three stories, in order of publication:
I’d say that this story was a perfect 10. The author (Rachel Hauck) spends a great deal of her storytelling style on details. It’s through the details that you understand the characters and fall in love with their story. The story is about Susanna Truiit who is three ways away from marrying the man of her dreams who happens to be royalty. His proper title is King Nathaniel II of Brighton Kingdom. He wooed her and won her heart in Rachel’s previous book Once Upon a Prince and now it’s time for their love to be sealed. However, there is a problem—the prince's government insists that Susanna renounces her American citizenship before the wedding. She cannot have dual citizenship due to the political reasons. Making things worse is the fact that her closest family and friends for health-related reasons, cannot fly to Brighton for the wedding. The reader learns of this multi-layered conflict within the first few chapters of the story.
Rachel as an author, does an awesome job of developing the conflict and using it to drive the readers deep into the characterization of her hero and heroine. Even the secondary characters are solid and written well. The author gives great thought about their hopes and dreams in their fictional life along with showing the reader their strong support of the main characters. She knows how to show and not simply tell the story.
The plot was unpredictable, even to a seasoned reader like me! I enjoyed the surprises and experienced great anticipation about how the plot twists would work out toward a happy ending. After all, she’s marrying a prince and don’t all fairy tale-like stories have happy endings?
Without giving away the ending of "A March Bride", I will say that as a reader, I was satisfied with the ending of this story. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
“An April Bride” by Lenora Worth
Another story that I’d give a perfect 10 rating. The author (Lenora Worth), does a fabulous job of painting these captivating fictional characters and structuring their world with her words.
The author’s strength is telling the story through emotions and memories. She focuses on Stella Carson who is a blushing bride and is ready to marry the man of her dreams (Marshall Henderson). Marshall is a wounded warrior. He was sent to the Middle East as a soldier for the U.S. Army but he suffered a loss so great that it robbed him of his memory. So after a long stay at the hospital, he returns home and is reunited his bride but he barely recognizes her and does not remember their love story.
The fact that Marshall does not remember their relationship and love story troubles Stella. But she refuses to give up. She’s strong-willed about marrying him as scheduled, from the first day of their reunion through most of their story. She makes every effort to kindly show him their love story and tell him why they're meant to be together. As time goes by, Marshall realizes the reasons why he wanted to marry Stella—she’s beautiful, sweet, compassionate, caring and patient—but he does not remember how they fell in love. He cannot remember any of their dates but he does listen to his parents who gently push him to still marry Stella despite his memory loss. His parents tell him that he and Stella are the “real deal” and help me realize that memory loss or not, when you find true love, it’s rare and worth fighting to keep.
However, Marshall’s trauma from his experience as a soldier makes him more distant to Stella because he won’t share his burdens with her and it causes a rift in their relationship. You’ll have to read the story to find out if love conquers all. But I will say that as a reader, I was not disappointed.
The author weaves a very sweet and realistic story, one that soldiers and army wives in real-life can relate to. I’d recommend “An April Bride” to everyone who has ever loved a soldier. It’s truly a touching and beautiful story that anyone can appreciate and enjoy.
“A May Bride” by Meg Moseley
May is my birth month, so I instantly wanted to read this story. It focuses on Elle Martin, a country girl living in the city, who dreams of a traditional wedding. She goes shopping for wedding dresses in her free time and plans other details for her wedding. But there’s just one necessary detail that she cannot shop for or exactly plan to get—the groom. She’s one of those women who have dreamed of their perfect wedding day since she was a little girl. Now she is a grown woman with an agenda, one that she keeps hidden when she meets her hero, Gray Whitby.
Gray is quite a catch. He’s good-looking, stable, funny and smart. The only flaw in his character, I’d say, is his impulsiveness. He and Elle strike up a fast friendship that leads to mutual attraction and then a whirlwind romance, the kind that ends with a proposal.
But the proposal is only the first hurdle on the path to Elle’s dream wedding. She has a strict mother who after having her heart broken by Elle’s father, is cynical about love. Elle’s Mom does nothing to improve or approve of Elle’s relationship with Gray. She rains on their wedding planning parade and places doubt in their heads as to whether or not they should tie the knot. Oh, the conflict! But don’t you know, it’s the conflict that makes the story?
The author (Meg Moseley) does a great job at creating conflict and going deep into her character’s thoughts/desires/fictional life stories. However, the story’s pacing felt rushed. I think that the story may have been better if the pacing was a bit slower and more steady because the rush, while it was fine for the whirlwind romance, took away from the story’s structure. It seemed a bit loose in points and unbelievable.
However, “A May Bride” was still a good story. The dialogue was unique and the characters were likeable. I think that if this story was a standalone novel, the author may have had more time to develop the plotline and deepen the characters. I’d give this story a solid 8 (on a scale of 1 to 10).
After “attending” each of these “weddings,” I’ve decided to give Spring Brides an A+! It’s a wonderful collection of stories. If you love romance stories with a hint of humor and a solid thread of faith, you need to read this book.
“A March Bride” by Rachel Hauck
I’d say that this story was a perfect 10. The author (Rachel Hauck) spends a great deal of her storytelling style on details. It’s through the details that you understand the characters and fall in love with their story. The story is about Susanna Truiit who is three ways away from marrying the man of her dreams who happens to be royalty. His proper title is King Nathaniel II of Brighton Kingdom. He wooed her and won her heart in Rachel’s previous book Once Upon a Prince and now it’s time for their love to be sealed. However, there is a problem—the prince's government insists that Susanna renounces her American citizenship before the wedding. She cannot have dual citizenship due to the political reasons. Making things worse is the fact that her closest family and friends for health-related reasons, cannot fly to Brighton for the wedding. The reader learns of this multi-layered conflict within the first few chapters of the story.
Rachel as an author, does an awesome job of developing the conflict and using it to drive the readers deep into the characterization of her hero and heroine. Even the secondary characters are solid and written well. The author gives great thought about their hopes and dreams in their fictional life along with showing the reader their strong support of the main characters. She knows how to show and not simply tell the story.
The plot was unpredictable, even to a seasoned reader like me! I enjoyed the surprises and experienced great anticipation about how the plot twists would work out toward a happy ending. After all, she’s marrying a prince and don’t all fairy tale-like stories have happy endings?
Without giving away the ending of "A March Bride", I will say that as a reader, I was satisfied with the ending of this story. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
“An April Bride” by Lenora Worth
Another story that I’d give a perfect 10 rating. The author (Lenora Worth), does a fabulous job of painting these captivating fictional characters and structuring their world with her words.
The author’s strength is telling the story through emotions and memories. She focuses on Stella Carson who is a blushing bride and is ready to marry the man of her dreams (Marshall Henderson). Marshall is a wounded warrior. He was sent to the Middle East as a soldier for the U.S. Army but he suffered a loss so great that it robbed him of his memory. So after a long stay at the hospital, he returns home and is reunited his bride but he barely recognizes her and does not remember their love story.
The fact that Marshall does not remember their relationship and love story troubles Stella. But she refuses to give up. She’s strong-willed about marrying him as scheduled, from the first day of their reunion through most of their story. She makes every effort to kindly show him their love story and tell him why they're meant to be together. As time goes by, Marshall realizes the reasons why he wanted to marry Stella—she’s beautiful, sweet, compassionate, caring and patient—but he does not remember how they fell in love. He cannot remember any of their dates but he does listen to his parents who gently push him to still marry Stella despite his memory loss. His parents tell him that he and Stella are the “real deal” and help me realize that memory loss or not, when you find true love, it’s rare and worth fighting to keep.
However, Marshall’s trauma from his experience as a soldier makes him more distant to Stella because he won’t share his burdens with her and it causes a rift in their relationship. You’ll have to read the story to find out if love conquers all. But I will say that as a reader, I was not disappointed.
The author weaves a very sweet and realistic story, one that soldiers and army wives in real-life can relate to. I’d recommend “An April Bride” to everyone who has ever loved a soldier. It’s truly a touching and beautiful story that anyone can appreciate and enjoy.
“A May Bride” by Meg Moseley
May is my birth month, so I instantly wanted to read this story. It focuses on Elle Martin, a country girl living in the city, who dreams of a traditional wedding. She goes shopping for wedding dresses in her free time and plans other details for her wedding. But there’s just one necessary detail that she cannot shop for or exactly plan to get—the groom. She’s one of those women who have dreamed of their perfect wedding day since she was a little girl. Now she is a grown woman with an agenda, one that she keeps hidden when she meets her hero, Gray Whitby.
Gray is quite a catch. He’s good-looking, stable, funny and smart. The only flaw in his character, I’d say, is his impulsiveness. He and Elle strike up a fast friendship that leads to mutual attraction and then a whirlwind romance, the kind that ends with a proposal.
But the proposal is only the first hurdle on the path to Elle’s dream wedding. She has a strict mother who after having her heart broken by Elle’s father, is cynical about love. Elle’s Mom does nothing to improve or approve of Elle’s relationship with Gray. She rains on their wedding planning parade and places doubt in their heads as to whether or not they should tie the knot. Oh, the conflict! But don’t you know, it’s the conflict that makes the story?
The author (Meg Moseley) does a great job at creating conflict and going deep into her character’s thoughts/desires/fictional life stories. However, the story’s pacing felt rushed. I think that the story may have been better if the pacing was a bit slower and more steady because the rush, while it was fine for the whirlwind romance, took away from the story’s structure. It seemed a bit loose in points and unbelievable.
However, “A May Bride” was still a good story. The dialogue was unique and the characters were likeable. I think that if this story was a standalone novel, the author may have had more time to develop the plotline and deepen the characters. I’d give this story a solid 8 (on a scale of 1 to 10).
After “attending” each of these “weddings,” I’ve decided to give Spring Brides an A+! It’s a wonderful collection of stories. If you love romance stories with a hint of humor and a solid thread of faith, you need to read this book.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Words of Faith: Sarah's story about a Savior who gives His strength to us
A Life of Strength
A Words of Faith story written by Sarah Hamaker
Life can wear you down. We all struggle at times with feeling tired, worn out, stressed out, and overwhelmed. We face obstacles that we think we cannot overcome. We slog through days that seem long and drawn out. We have to find a way through hurt feelings, injustice and unfairness.
And all too often we forget that we are not in this alone: We have a Savior who wants to shoulder those burdens on his strong back. We also have a Savior who gives his strength to us.
But we don’t ask for that, do we? We go it by ourselves, trying to keep our heads above water without reaching for the lifeline right by our side.
Philippians 4:13 is the perfect antidote to our weariness. I don’t recall when I memorized this verse, but it’s one that has stuck with me for many, many years. It pops into my mind whenever my strength is failing and I sometimes silently, sometimes audibly, repeat it over and over until I feel stronger to face whatever trial is before me.
I’ve said during labor and delivery of my four children. I’ve said it in the dentist chair as the hygienist scraps plaque of my teeth. I’ve prayed it for others when they’re facing a tough day or event.
Each time, I’m reminded of Christ’s strength. This isn’t some ordinary strength. Christ needed extraordinary strength to fulfill His Father’s will to die on the cross for the sins of those to whom He’s called as His own. This strength is more than sufficient for my own small needs by comparison.
We all can live a life of strength when we cling to the promise in this verse: We can do all things because of the strength Christ gives us.
~*~
Author bio:
A Words of Faith story written by Sarah Hamaker
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”~Philippians 4:13
Life can wear you down. We all struggle at times with feeling tired, worn out, stressed out, and overwhelmed. We face obstacles that we think we cannot overcome. We slog through days that seem long and drawn out. We have to find a way through hurt feelings, injustice and unfairness.
And all too often we forget that we are not in this alone: We have a Savior who wants to shoulder those burdens on his strong back. We also have a Savior who gives his strength to us.
But we don’t ask for that, do we? We go it by ourselves, trying to keep our heads above water without reaching for the lifeline right by our side.
Philippians 4:13 is the perfect antidote to our weariness. I don’t recall when I memorized this verse, but it’s one that has stuck with me for many, many years. It pops into my mind whenever my strength is failing and I sometimes silently, sometimes audibly, repeat it over and over until I feel stronger to face whatever trial is before me.
I’ve said during labor and delivery of my four children. I’ve said it in the dentist chair as the hygienist scraps plaque of my teeth. I’ve prayed it for others when they’re facing a tough day or event.
Each time, I’m reminded of Christ’s strength. This isn’t some ordinary strength. Christ needed extraordinary strength to fulfill His Father’s will to die on the cross for the sins of those to whom He’s called as His own. This strength is more than sufficient for my own small needs by comparison.
We all can live a life of strength when we cling to the promise in this verse: We can do all things because of the strength Christ gives us.
~*~
Author bio:
Sarah Hamaker has written Ending Sibling Rivalry: Moving Your Kids From War to Peace (Beacon Hill Press, 2014).
Her stories have appeared in several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and her romantic suspense novel, The Dark Guest, won the 2015 ACFW Genesis contest.
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